Helo hits 4 cr users in India, aims 300% growth in 2019

Social media platform Helo, which hit four crore monthly active users in India at the end of the first quarter of 2019, is well on track to achieve 300 per cent growth this year, a top company executive has said.

Owned by Chinese technology company ByteDance, which also runs the TikTok app, Helo supports 14 Indian languages. The app was launched in India in June 2018.

"We are on target to achieve our target of 300 per cent growth in 2019, thanks to the overwhelming response we have received from our users speaking 14 Indian languages," Shyamanga Barooah, Head of Content Operations, Helo, said in a statement.

The app allows users to create text, photo or video-based content, and encourages users to make new friends, and share the latest and trending jokes, memes and quotes among others.

Helo said it uses Machine Learning technology and a team of content moderators to review and take down objectionable content in the 14 Indian languages available on the platform.

The app removed 160,000 accounts and five million posts for violating its "Community Guidelines", Helo claimed.

"At Helo, the safety of our users is our utmost priority. While we understand that no social media platform can be 100 per cent free from issues around fake news or misinformation, the number of posts and accounts that we have taken down reflects the strength of our moderation capabilities," Barooah said.

"But our work does not end here. We are looking forward to further enhancing our guidelines and safety features to ensure that we remain the most trusted source in India for news and trending topics," Barooah added.